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January 27 2004

Whether you liked him or despised him, former governor and representative Bill Janklow had a powerful and lasting effect on South Dakota during his 30 year political tenure.

While people across the state debate the severity of the sentence handed down by Judge Rodney Steele in the Moody County Courthouse last Thursday, there is no doubt that our State's ex-governor will spend 100 nights behind bars and that is a sad note for South Dakota.

Was the sentence just? The sentence for his second degree manslaughter conviction is as follows:

. He must be a law-abiding citizen and meet all the terms of probation at which time the felony charge will be wiped from his record. Three other charges; reckless driving, speeding, and running a stop sign will remain on his record.

Governor Janklow had his own way of doing business, and many times it was his way or no way. Despite the manner, he worked for the betterment of the State.

No matter how you felt about the man or the politician, whether you thought he was good for the State or not, no one could have envisioned this type of ending to his long and extensive political life.

In addition to enduring 100 nights behind locked steel bars, Janklow must live with the reality that his actions on the fateful day last August cost Minnesotan Randy Scott his life. That sounds like a life a sentence to me.